Legislating the war on Christmas (video)

Resolution 579, which passed 401-22 yesterday, rebuffs alleged "attempts to ban mention of Christmas," and expresses support for and "recognizes the importance of the symbols and traditions of Christmas."

Of course, nobody's banning anything, it's just a sickening waste of time to pander to a craven PR campaign. My lord, don't they have more important things to debate in Congress, like flag burning and pay raises?

The American Jewish Congress, which called the resolution "pernicious," released this statement:

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"what occurs each Christmas is that individual merchants exercise their own independent commercial, religious and personal judgments about whether they will celebrate or observe Christmas. Christians have the right as consumers to patronize or refuse to patronize stores that observe or decline to observe Christmas, display Christian symbols, follow Christmas traditions and that celebrate the religious aspects of the holiday. Merchants have a right to decide how to respond to such consumer preferences. But, government has no business getting into the middle. Those who wish to marshal the power of government to tip the balance in favor of one side or the other do so in blatant disregard of our nation's long established tradition of religious liberty. Government has no place establishing a set of favored religious symbols and traditions at the expense of other Americans."

Michigan congressman Charlie Dingell spoke with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann about the resolution and the Bores of Christmas [VIDEO]. His comments strike me as slightly closer to the spirit of Christmas than the bile-spewers at a certain cable news outfit:

"Christmas is something we should celebrate in our hearts."

"I don't think we need to defend it, i think we need to practice it."

(Video via CrooksandLiars)

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